The professional news page of Ernest W. Adams, author of The Designer's Notebook.

Tuesday, March 04, 2003

Activities at the Game Developers' Conference, 2003

San Jose, California

At the 2003 GDC I was involved in two events, apart from meeting a ton of people and schmoozing material for my book on getting a job in the game industry. First I attended the Academic Summit, listening to everything that went on and delivering the concluding summary. The Academic Summit is the annual meeting of people trying to bring computer gaming and university education closer together. Then on the last day I gave my own lecture, which was called "Exploring the Fringes: Interactive Entertainment for the 21st Century." In it I examined such diverse endeavors as the the formal art world; the machinima movement; the demo scene; the interactive fiction movement; text MUDs and MUSHes; and the use of computer games for subversive or political ends, e.g. Velvet-Strike. The idea was to explore the fringes of the interactive entertainment world, the various activities that take place around the edges of the mainstream commercial game industry.

About Me

Dr. Ernest Adams is an independent game design consultant, writer, and teacher. He has been in the game industry since 1989, and is the author of Game Mechanics: Advanced Game Design with Joris Dormans,Fundamentals of Game Design, Second Edition, andBreak Into the Game Industry: How to Get a Job Making Video Games. Ernest was most recently employed as a lead designer at Bullfrog Productions on theDungeon Keeperseries, and for several years before that he was the audio/video producer on theMadden NFL football product line. He is the founder of the International Game Developers' Association, and is a popular lecturer at the Game Developers' Conference and many other events.